PIA spokesperson made it clear that the proposal was under consideration because of commercial reasons. Reuters file photo

Karachi/Mumbai, May 5

Pakistan International Airlines said on Friday that its weekly flight between Karachi and Mumbai was likely to be suspended from this month due to “commercial” considerations.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson Danyal Gillani made it clear that the proposal to suspend the Karachi-Mumbai flight was under consideration because of commercial reasons and not due to heightened bilateral tensions.Gillani told PTI that the airlines is “likely” to suspend flight operations on the Karachi-Mumbai route but a final decision on it was yet to be made.Though the PIA spokesperson said the decision had not been taken on the suspension of Karachi-Mumbai flight, a company associated with the flight operation told PTI in Mumbai that, “Pakistan International Airlines, in a communication to authorities concerned, has said that its Karachi-Mumbai flight will not be open for sale (bookings) from May 11.”“Apart from the current situation (prevailing tension between India-Pakistan), the suspension of the service might be due to commercial reasons as well,” the official said.The national flag carrier of Pakistan operated the Karachi-Mumbai flight on Thursday.The airline did not operate its service yesterday as well, the official said.However, the Pakistan airline had informed the relevant authorities about the non-operation of the service on May 4 in a communication last month, the official said.Gillani said media reports claiming that the flights could be suspended to Mumbai because of tensions were not correct.“If any decision is made it will be purely for commercial reasons as there has been a decline in traffic on this route,” he said.Gillani also asserted that PIA flights along the Lahore-New Delhi route will continue operations.The proposal to suspend the Karachi-Mumbai flight may have been made for commercial purposes, but deteriorating ties indirectly have affected traffic on the route.Sources in the PIA said that the airlines was not getting enough traffic for the flights to Mumbai due to the toughening of the visa rules by the Indian High Commission.The sources claimed that recently visas had been denied to official Pakistani sports contingents wanting to travel to India for international events.“Recent flights have had low passenger count and it is becoming an additional burden on the airlines which is already facing a financial crisis,” he said.The proposal to suspend the flight comes amid a strain in Indo-Pak ties following the beheading of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan military in Jammu and Kashmir.PIA was a profit making entity and earned more than Rs 2 billion in 2004 but after that it went into deficit and could not recover.Since 2013, when the current Nawaz Sharif government took over, the carrier has suffered more than Rs 100 billion in losses, according to officials. — PTI

No-fly list: Centre sets rules for banning unruly passengers

Instances of unruly behaviour have been mentioned into three categories.

Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune news service

New Delhi, May 5

The Government on Friday announced rules to bar passengers from flying on airlines in case of their unruly behaviour either with the airline staff or with co-passengers.The fallout of the Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad incident in which he allegedly assaulted an Air India staffer onboard a plane the rules were announced by the Civil Aviation Ministry.Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju during a press conference said that instances of unruly behaviour have been mentioned into three categories.The government is also looking at creating a national no-fly list of unruly passengers and security threats, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said.The list would be maintained by the DGCA.Among the reasons for no fly for the passengers would be instances of disruptive behaviour like physical gestures, etc.  Also, counted in the list would be physical or abusive behaviour like pushing, kicking, sexual harassment, besides life threatening behaviour.Punishment for unruly behaviour will also fall under three categories. The 1st category is three months suspension. The punishment for level 2 offences will be six months and that for level 3 offences will be two years or more.Airline can ban the passenger from flying immediately but the passenger won’t come on national no-fly list immediately.The ministry clarified that the penalty of suspension for unruly behaviour applies to domestic carriers, but if international carriers want this option they can use it too.